Feb. 16, 2014

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Rocky Mountain's Danny Murphy is caught in the hold of Cherry Creek's Zach Finesilver at the Class 5A Region 3 wrestling tournament at Fort Collins High School on Saturday. Murphy lost the 138-bout to Finesilver. / Erin Hooley/The Coloradoan

Like a pair of rival heavyweight boxers from an era long before their time, Rocky Mountain’s Danny Murphy and Cherry Creek’s Zach Finesilver share the utmost respect for each other.

That doesn’t mean losing to the other is any easier to swallow.

Finesilver beat Murphy in a tight, 6-4 decision Saturday at the Class 5A Region 3 meet at Fort Collins High School in what proved to be the most anticipated match of the day. This was the third meeting of the season between the two 138-pounders, who also met in the Class 5A state meet last season.

Murphy beat Finesilver at state and the first matchup this season. Finesilver has now taken the last two.

“It’s a lot harder to wrestle each other several times. I love wrestling him and the competition. It’s always a battle,” Murphy said. “He was just the better wrestler today.”

“What I’ve learned from wrestling is that you’ve got to be calm and you’ve got to have fun,” Finesilver said. “That’s why I love wrestling Danny; he’s having fun out there, too.”

Despite the loss, Murphy’s Lobos got the best of Finesilver’s Bruins for the region championship. Jumped by Cherry Creek in this week’s On the Mat rankings, No. 3 ranked Rocky Mountain dominated this weekend’s regional, beating No. 2 Cherry Creek by 39.5 points for its second consecutive regional title.

The Lobos crowned three champions and qualified eight wrestlers to next week’s Class 5A state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center.

Top-ranked 152-pound wrestler Roman Ortiz pushed his season record to 39-0, pinning Martin Selby of Boulder in 5 minutes, 58 seconds to win his second consecutive regional championship.

“I knew this, the coaches knew this, everyone knew this. They kept coming up to me, telling me that people are going to come after me because you’re number one in the state. People are going to fight me with everything they’ve got, just to see what they can do against a number one guy,” Ortiz said.

Luis Perez (195) also won his second regional title, and Clayton Morgan (285) added the third Lobos individual championship.

The Impalas qualified three for the state tournament: Owen Lamb (106), Nick Noonan (113) and Brayden Hubbard (170).

Fossil Ridge competed at the Region 4 match at Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, placing seventh. The SaberCats send three to the state tournament, including region champions Payton Tapia (195) and Matthew Young (220). Payton Killion (145) also qualified.

'Hasn't sunk in yet'

Poudre’s Nick Noonan and Fort Collins’ Josh Boulton are both state qualifiers for the first time.

Boulton is the freshman with the two older brothers who competed for Doherty High School in Colorado Springs; Noonan the senior who missed the state tournament three years in a row by one measly match.

Both were at a loss for words after qualifying, despite taking drastically different paths to get there.

Noonan was jubilant and care-free after losing his third match. He finished fourth but already knew he had qualified for state as there wouldn’t be an wrestle-backs in the 120-pound weight class.

“It’s just awesome. I don’t know what to say. I’m really happy I qualified. It’s still sinking in,” said Boulton, whose older brother of five years, Evan, placed sixth at the Class 5A state meet as a senior at Doherty.

Noonan took the long route to qualifying, challenging Rocky Mountain’s Logan Newman in a wrestle-back at 113 pounds. Noonan forced a fourth period, and with 30 seconds remaining, finally dropped Newman with a strong move and sealed the dramatic 5-3 win to seal his first trip to state.

“It’s really hard to explain right now,” Noonan said after being mobbed by teammates and coaches. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”

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For all the excitement that followed Noonan, Newman had to slink back to his corner where Rocky Mountain coach Ken Taylor waited with a hug and comforting words.

“I just told him we’re so dang proud of you and you’re going to be so, so successful in life and that hopefully wrestling will be a part of who you are for years to come,” Taylor said. “It’s just so emotional. We have such a good group of young men with character and integrity. It’s very disappointing for those who didn’t make it (to state), but I’d rather for them to set high goals and not reach them, than to be afraid and not step out and set a goal and work toward something. None of these guys have regrets because of the effort they put forth all year long.”

Class 4A

The Windsor High School wrestling team qualified eight wrestlers for the Class 4A state tournament during this weekend’s regional at Greeley Central High School.

Included in those eight are five wrestlers who won their weight class in the 4A Region 3 tournament. Josh Villa (113 pounds), Jonathan Lewis (120), Kennen Lanteri (152), Joseph Keller (170) and Brandon Brauser (182) all finished first.

The other Windsor wrestlers who qualified for next week’s state tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver were Sam Zdenek (second at 106), Jacob Meismer (second at 132) and Matteo Ambriz (third at 126).

As a team Windsor finished second with 229 points. Thompson Valley, ranked No. 1 in 4A in On the Mat rankings, won the region with 258 points. Windsor is ranked third in 4A.